


The Climb

by idanato



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26813950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idanato/pseuds/idanato
Summary: Edelgard convinces Hubert to come play in the throne room, which leads to his father imparting a very important lesson on a Vestra's place.[Hubert Week Day 1: Forbidden/Heights]
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25
Collections: Hubert Week 2020





	The Climb

It was Edelgard’s idea to play in the throne room. “Where is everyone?” whispered Hubert, his small voice echoing in the massive chamber. He’d never seen it empty before, only lit up in all it’s glory with Ionius up on his throne and his subjects filling the room. He looked up at the iron candelabras that stood even taller than Father, the tallest man Hubert knew.

“Court is in recess,” parroted Edelgard, surely quoting some authority figure. She always used a very prim and proper voice when she was imitating the stuffy adults that ran things. “That means everyone is out playing or something.” Edelgard was eagerly cutting a path towards the throne. It was up on a platform that was many stairs high. Behind it was a crimson tapestry emblazoned with the twin headed eagle of Adrestia.

The daylight filtered in through the windows but it was still dim without the chandeliers all lit. “Are you sure we’re allowed to be in here?” Hubert had a list of places he was permitted to take the princess — the gardens, the observatory, the library — and a list he was not — the lower floors, storage rooms, the stables — but the throne room wasn’t on any list at all.

“Of course we’re allowed, they’d post guards if they didn’t want anyone in here,” insisted Edelgard as she began to ascend the stairs. Her pigtails bobbed as she raced to the top, and Hubert had to hurry to keep up with her.

When he finally got to the top she was attempting to get up onto the throne, but it was extremely high. “El, don’t, I know you’re not allowed on that.”

Edelgard stuck out her tongue at him, “Hubert, there’s no one here to see.”

Hubert frowned and looked up, “The Goddess will see.” The Goddess punished people when they were bad, and she saw everything.

Edelgard groaned and let her feet return to the ground. “You’re not being fun today.”

“Why don’t we go outside? I don’t like it up here,” suggested Hubert as he leaned to peer over the edge of the platform. It was very high and there was no rail to stop one from falling off. “We should go to the gardens, I’m sure your brother—”

“What are you children doing in here?” The voice cut through the room like a whip cracking at a young horse being broken.

Hubert felt the pit of his stomach drop at the sound of Father’s words. “Nothing.”

The Marquis Vestra walked in near silence towards the platform. His footsteps were soft and barely audible, though they were a sound Hubert had unconsciously trained himself to listen for. Father’s face was placid and calm, “Lady Edelgard, I believe your mother was looking for you in your chambers. You should not keep her waiting.”

Edelgard nodded and bolted down the stairs before pausing to give a proper curtsy, “Good day Minister von Vestra.”

Hubert’s father bowed his head and watched as Edelgard sprinted towards the door. His cool green eyes then traced to his son. Hubert felt a small bead of sweat roll down his neck and past the collar of his shirt, “I’m sorry, this isn’t on the list of places we’re not permitted. I didn’t know—”

“It’s fine,” said the Marquis in a tone of voice that suggested it was not ‘ _fine_ ’ at all. Hubert started to walk to the stairs as he realized he should have immediately followed the princess down. His father held up a hand, “Stay.” Hubert found his feet firmly rooted in place as he stared at them. “It’s time you learn what it means to be a von Vestra,” said the Marquis softly as began to climb the stairs.

“I apologize, sir,” whispered Hubert as he tried to think of a way to talk himself out of this one. “We won’t come in here again—”

“Hubert, you talk too much sometimes,” said the Marquis as he reached the top.

Hubert stole a quick glance up at his father. He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t frowning either. He just looked tired. “When you’re caught doing something you ought not to, you should say as little as possible. When you talk, you spill secrets. Secrets are power. Do you understand?”

Hubert almost responded with a ‘yes sir’ but then tried to take the lesson to heart and just nodded in response. The Marquis’ lip curled at one end, “Good.” He clasped his hands behind his back and looked out at the room, “This is the Emperor’s place, Hubert, this is his view. What do you think of it?”

Hubert gulped, “Everything seems so tiny from up here.” Even the candelabras didn’t look so big to him from up here.

His father hummed with agreement. “Everyone looks small to the Emperor, for he is above us all.” He paused and looked at the throne, “Who sits there?”

“The Emperor,” said Hubert as he switched into his recitation voice. He knew these answers, he’d been practicing. “Emperor Ionius, the ninth of his name.”

“Good, and who else sits there?”

Hubert tensed up. As far as he knew, no one else. “Only the emperor may sit there?”

“Correct,” said the Marquis as Hubert let out a tiny sigh of relief. “No one else is permitted upon the throne. Ever. Do you understand?”

Hubert nodded and was immensely grateful Edelgard had not been able to get up into the forbidden seat. The Marquis continued, “This is the last time you will come up on this platform until you take over my job, do you understand?”

“Yes sir,” said Hubert as he tried to imagine himself as old as Father.

“Even when you have my position, you will only stand _behind_ the Emperor,” said the Marquis as he strode to the traditional spot where the Minister of the Imperial Household was permitted to stand. He snapped his fingers and Hubert was quick to follow at his father’s heels. “The Emperor has the highest seat in the room. You’re already tall, but you will continue to grow. You will probably be taller than me but you will not be allowed to stand taller than the Emperor on his throne, do you understand?”

His excitement at being taller than Father was tempered by memorizing all these rules, “Yes sir.”

They had to go down a few steps to get the spot. It was not near the throne at all and practically behind a column. It did however afford a good view of the room, and Hubert imagined they would be invisible here to any people down in the main area. The Marquis’ smile was thin, “You’ll have to keep a watch on all the little ants scurrying around on the floor.” The Marquis looked at his son intently, “Do you know that ants have an Emperor too?”

Hubert did know. He had seen the fancy glass ant farm in the gardens that one of the princes had received as a gift. The Emperor ant lived deep in the ant mound in a special chamber at the center. “Yes, the Emperor ant is the big one, and all the workers have to feed it.” He paused, “Though shouldn’t we call it an Empress Ant since it lays the eggs?”

“A woman on the throne would still be called Emperor,” corrected the Marquis softly. His nostrils flared and Hubert worried he’d been saying too much again. He had to practice keeping his thoughts to himself. The Marquis continued, “All the little ants serve the big ant. That is how court works. Nobles come here to pay their tribute to the Emperor. They do so in pledges of loyalty, gold, and blood.” The Marquis looked up once more at the throne, “Tell me Hubert, what do you think happens to an ant that tries to set out on its own?”

“It gets stepped on?” Hubert was miles out of his element. He wished they had never come in here to play.

“Indeed. An ant on its own is vulnerable, weak,” hissed the Marquis as his hand settled on his son’s shoulder. “An ant on its own will never survive.” He looked out at the empty room with a narrowed gaze, “Many will try to crawl up those stairs, many will think they can stand as tall as the emperor.” He paused and looked back at his son, “What do we do to ants Hubert?”

“Remove them,” whispered Hubert as he thought about keeping the ants off of Edelgard’s dessert sandwiches when they took tea out in the courtyard.

“Exactly,” said the the Marquis as he came down to his son’s level. They were now eye to eye and Hubert was ill prepared for the intensity of his father’s pale green stare. “An ant on its own cannot take on the Emperor.”

Hubert nodded, he was the ant. “Yes sir.”

“But, what happens to the Emperor ant if all its workers leave?”

Hubert felt his throat growing dry, “It, it dies?”

“It starves to death, because it cannot feed itself. It does not understand the world outside its chamber,” whispered the Marquis. “Everyone focuses on the Emperor ant, but it is all the little ants, all the many tiny laborers working together, that keeps the colony strong.”

The Marquis straightened up but his grip on Hubert’s shoulder tightened, “You do not go up on your own to the Emperor’s throne, do you understand?”

“Yes sir,” said Hubert as his breath fluttered with pain at his father’s grip.

“You cannot go up high, not on your own. You will fall from that platform and smash upon the marble and no one will mourn you for it,” said his father. Hubert was sure he was going to have a bruise on his shoulder for a moment and then his father’s grip loosened and he patted Hubert with a soft touch, “Do you know how worker ants get to high places?”

Hubert let out a nervous breath, “No sir.”

“They boost each other. They create a chain, a ladder of bodies to climb. One may fall here and there, but the mass ascends,” whispered the Marquis as his eyes traced up the stairs and to the throne. “If you ever desire to get to a higher station Hubert, you must have an army at your back. You must let others be your ladder.”

Hubert nodded and forced out a, “Yes sir.”

“Good,” said the Marquis plainly as he gestured for Hubert to lead the way down to the main floor and away from the frightfully high throne.

In the years that followed, Hubert developed a keen fear of rising too high. He watched his father finally ascend the stairs with the help of many, to depose of the Emperor. It was an important lesson that the masses could take on anything if there were enough of them, even the Goddess herself if ones dreams were big enough. As he shot up in height past his liege, he always stood behind her and even stooped a little so he would not look too tall. Edelgard had a vision for the future, and Hubert would not dare to block it, only to give her the boost she she needed to finally climb into her rightful throne.

**Author's Note:**

> I've written a lot of Hubert focused gen fics/a whole series (and lots of weird, niche rare pairs for him), so if this is your cup of tea please consider checking out my other works, thanks!


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